Create breakthroughs and develop on the basis of traditional and modern values

Nguyen Xuan Duong

(Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee)

(Baonghean) - 2014 is the year Nghe An marked with many outstanding achievements in all aspects: budget revenue, food output, investment attraction reached the highest level ever; new look of traffic infrastructure with overpass system, airport, port and modern national highway; national excellent students ranked 2nd in the country; breast cancer treatment by stem cell transplantation; Nghe An folk songs Vi and Giam were recognized by UNESCO as representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity,...

These are encouraging achievements, demonstrating the efforts, consensus and high determination of the entire Party, army and people of the province. At the same time, they are also the foundation and the stepping stone to prepare for the final stage of making Nghe An become the economic center of the North Central region according to the target set out in Resolution 26 of the Politburo.

Comrade Nguyen Xuan Duong presented gifts to officers and workers constructing the overpass on National Highway 46 connecting Dang Thai Mai Street, the intersection with National Highway 1A and the North-South railway on the night of January 17, 2015. Photo: Thanh Duy

Currently, it can be seen that Nghe An has reached a relatively stable level of development in basic pillars such as economy, culture, education, etc. This is a necessary condition and also an environment and opportunity for the question of breakthrough developments to be raised, when we have almost reached the end of a term, preparing to enter a new phase with higher and deeper goals.

In the spirit of the guiding policy, the four main pillars of the economy in the coming time will be: promoting the development of key economic zones, with special attention to the Western region; continuing to invest in improving infrastructure; strengthening administrative reforms, adjusting mechanisms and policies to create an open and healthy investment environment; focusing on developing soft economic sectors such as tourism, services, and trade. That long-term strategic vision will be the convergence, connection, and extension of specific actions and solutions. Ideology and practice must always go hand in hand, complement and support each other to promote optimal efficiency in implementing socio-economic development tasks.

First of all, to promote the overall development of the province, as well as create linkages and coordination in socio-economic development between economic regions, we have identified 3 key economic regions of the province: Western Nghe An; Vinh - Cua Lo, Southeast Economic Zone and Hoang Mai - Dong Hoi region. This will be a solid foundation on the basis of developing heavy industries such as construction materials and energy industry. This direction is not new, but has been and is still having a positive effect on the development of the basic economy, taking advantage of the resources, natural area and people of Nghe An province. In particular, the "pillar" worth noting is the Western Nghe An region, because this place has a tradition and abundant potential for agricultural development.

We must not forget that agriculture is an important traditional front, closely linked to the cognitive thinking and culture of our locality. In the period of innovation, the industry structure may decrease, but the position of agriculture must be consolidated by increasing added value and focusing on sustainable development. In 2014, many scientific and technological topics and projects were implemented to help organizations, businesses and localities accelerate the development process. Forming and putting into stable production raw material areas, serving large projects and enterprises such as MDF fiberboard factory, TH milk factory, clean coal factory... Creating the habit of raising, growing, and producing commercial goods such as oranges, passion fruit, ginger, taro, ducks, black pigs, hill chickens...

These are effective economic models, gradually applying scientific and technological advances, increasing the content of the agricultural sector that we need to continue to replicate. In the near future, we need to go one step further, from farmers to businesses and consumers through building satellite models to serve inputs and accompanying services; pay attention to expanding the market, creating sustainable brands. To do that, industries need to limit "academic" topics, connect more with practice to effectively serve the agricultural front of the province. In short, developing the economy vertically but must strengthen horizontal links to create a closed production chain, integrating agriculture with industry, tradition and modernity, practice with theory.

Second, investment in building and upgrading infrastructure will continue to be one of the top priority tasks, because this is an indispensable hard foundation for implementing industrialization and modernization. In the specific implementation process, it is necessary to divide into two directions of implementation: building rural infrastructure and infrastructure associated with urbanization. In 2014, the whole province has built 33 communes that meet 19 new rural criteria. Many localities have had good ways of doing things, but in mountainous areas and ethnic minority areas, building new rural areas is still difficult. Therefore, it is necessary to be flexible in directing, if communes have not yet met new rural standards, then direct the building of villages and hamlets that meet new rural standards. This means that in places where conditions and people do not allow, we depend on the practical situation to set appropriate and feasible goals. It is necessary to determine that no goal or task is unimportant. Even the smallest tasks, if completed well, will create momentum, motivation and "roll out the carpet" for us to move towards larger, more specific and immediate goals, which is to complete the 2015 target of adding at least 54 communes to meet new rural standards (striving to reach 81 communes).

In addition to the achievements in rural development, 2014 was also a successful year for transport infrastructure. At the end of 2014, the project to upgrade and expand National Highway 1A through Nghe An province was basically completed; overpasses at the city gateway were put into use. Inheriting the foundation of 2014, in early 2015, the newly built Vinh Airport, upgraded to an international airport, will be inaugurated; the project to expand Cua Lo Port, increase the tonnage of incoming and outgoing ships will be started;...

Thus, we have gradually upgraded the road, air and waterway infrastructure synchronously. These are the important "nerves" of the economy, because in this integration period, the speed and flow of exchange of wealth, goods and people are one of the decisive factors. Recognizing the importance of infrastructure projects, we have widely disseminated propaganda among officials and people, especially people in the affected areas. These are lessons learned from the process of implementing site clearance for the Project to upgrade and expand National Highway 1A, in which the role of methodical and procedural leadership and the focused and decisive attitude of authorities at all levels are the levers to create momentum, eliminating individualism to move towards the common interest.

Third is the issue of administrative reform, mechanisms and investment environment. One of the outstanding achievements of 2014 was the budget revenue reaching 7,652 billion VND, the highest ever. On that basis, in 2015 we strive to exceed revenue to invest in key projects in the fields of agriculture, rural areas and social security.

To achieve this goal, it is necessary to focus on strengthening and creating consensus at all levels and sectors to maximize internal strength. Specifically, there must be a clear division of labor and decentralization, avoiding overlap or "gaps" in any link in the implementation of the general policy. For example, budget collection is a task managed by the Tax sector, but it requires strong coordination, direction and implementation right from the first days and months of the year by directors of departments; heads of provincial-level departments and sectors; chairmen of People's Committees of districts, cities and towns; directors of enterprises, organizations and individuals.

Next, the problem does not stop at tax collection. The management and use of the budget is the responsibility of the Department of Finance. To manage well, spend for the right purpose, economically and effectively, it is necessary to increase exchanges and discussions between the Department of Finance and the sectors and levels. At a more micro level, administrative reform must start from the individual - each cadre and each citizen. It is the close connection between the direction and implementation, between the supervisor and the executor. Cadres must put aside local and bureaucratic thinking in management, inspection and reporting. In return, a sense of responsibility from the people is also needed. All together towards the common good, in a global correlation.

In addition, it is necessary to determine that in order to create a leap forward for the economy, for Nghe An to become an industrial province, we can only place the greatest hope in attracting investment. In 2014, new investment certificates were granted to 145 projects with a total capital of 43,982 billion VND, promoting cooperation with foreign enterprises and organizations. That is an impressive result, which needs to be further promoted. Through events, mechanisms and investment promotion policies, we need to further expand the province's investment environment. But there must be an orientation: broad but deep, focusing on the key points and strengths of the locality; creating conditions but within the legal framework, transparent and healthy. The upcoming Spring At Mui investor conference will be an opportunity for the provincial leaders, as hosts, to show their receptive attitude and listen to investors' opinions, thereby continuing to strongly promote reforms of the investment environment and resolve difficulties and problems of businesses.

The last pillar of the economy is tourism, trade and services. This is the "softest" factor among the key points of economic development. However, this is the factor that has the strongest and most direct impact on the socio-economic appearance of the province. This pillar must be built on two foundations: tangible and intangible. The tangible here is infrastructure and cultural - tourism - commercial "resources". That is Vinh City - approved for expansion planning until 2030, with a vision to 2050, Cua Lo is recognized as a coastal city. Potentials and challenges are opening up in the development process of two young cities and Nghe An province. We also have a dense network of relics, cultural and historical heritage; natural landscapes and local products and specialties.

To truly exploit and promote this rich material foundation, it is necessary to cultivate and nurture the intangible foundation - people and culture. In 2014, Nghe Tinh Vi and Giam folk songs were recognized by UNESCO as a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity. We must realize that a representative heritage means representing the land, the people, the depth of culture and history. That means, we must connect Vi and Giam folk songs with the land and the indigenous people. We must breathe the soul of Nghe culture into the people of Nghe, so that the heritage is not just an object displayed in a glass cabinet, in typical individuals, but has the power to spread among the masses. That is also the time when our tourism - trade - services are harmoniously integrated into the life of the land and people, very real but also very colorful.

The question that covers the 4 solutions for economic development in Nghe An is: who and what will make the economy sustainable? It is education - culture - society, or in other words, it is people. In 2014, Nghe An had outstanding achievements in science, technology and education: successfully treating cancer by stem cell transplantation; national excellent students ranked 2nd in the country;...

The level of science and technology not only brings economic benefits but also improves the quality of life. The inauguration and stable operation of the 700-bed General Hospital, the improvement of facilities and equipment of specialized hospitals contribute to stabilizing social security, building a strong society - a necessary factor to move towards a rich and strong society. Besides, we need to pay attention to training a highly skilled workforce, meeting the needs of all fields and economic development directions as well as determining that this is an attractive "resource" for investors to Nghe An, in addition to natural resources.

Every year, Nghe An has about 20-21 thousand students graduating from colleges, universities, and vocational training, while the province only employs about 1,000 students. Solving employment is not only the responsibility of the Party Committee, the government, and mass organizations and society, but must come from the self-motivation of each individual. The demand for workers in a developing society is unlimited, but there are also certain requirements and standards. Therefore, each of us needs to ask ourselves: where are the gaps in the labor recruitment market and what capacity do we need to supplement and improve to become the piece that fits that gap? Of course, the Party Committee, the government, and mass organizations and society will be the catalyst, the conduit between workers and employers.

Entering 2015 - the opportunity to accelerate, there are still many challenges, our economy is not yet an entity with a long-term stable foundation and is on the way of movement and transformation. That is the reason why we must know how to take the lead in changes and opportunities but at the same time maintain our own ego and identity. Culture, tradition, history - that is the eternal fulcrum that will never be shaken, if breathed into life forever in each person. On the contrary, no innovation is effective, substantial without new people. Thus, the human factor is the "alternating current" that operates a society in harmony between internal and external forces, tradition and modernity.

Nguyen Xuan Duong

(Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee)